1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a document, or word, processing apparatus (hereinafter called a word processor) for use in creating and editing a document.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A word processor to be used for creating and editing a document is provided with input/output units such as a keyboard, floppy disk drives, a printer and the like, operated by a host computer. Characters of a document, inputted through a keyboard, are stored in a memory, and thereafter, editing and correcting the inputted signals is carried out, and finally the characters are printed by a printer.
When a word processor program is initiated upon turn on of the main switch, a self-diagnosis of various resources (hardware and software necessary for driving a word processor) is carried out. If a resource is detected as abnormal, a system operation stops, and thereafter, the resource that has a fault is indicated. The user repairs or fixes the failed resource and restarts the system operation.
It is to be noted that some resources are not necessary for a particular task mode, such as a word processor mode, or they may be necessary but can be replaced with some other resources. Thus, even when such resources are found to be faulty resources through a self-diagnostic test, it is advantageous to continue an operation of the word processor mode, instead of stopping the operation. Also, if any substitute resources are available which can replace the failed resources, the operation should preferably be continued with an appropriate limitation applied to the system.